Microdermabrasion is a procedure that may be performed, for example, to exfoliate layers of a patient's skin. In some cases, microdermabrasion is used to alleviate a skin condition (e.g., acne scars) and/or or to reduce the appearance of wrinkles (e.g., through collagen regeneration). Moreover, blood containing oxygen and nutrients may be drawn to the surface to help feed and repair the patient's skin cells.
During the microdermabrasion procedure, crystals may be supplied from a first container. A vacuum air flow is then used to spray or apply the crystals onto the patient's skin in a uniform manner. The crystals, along with dead skin cells, are then deposited in a second container to be eventually discarded.
An operator will need to replace or re-fill the first container when it runs out of crystals. Similarly, the operator will need to replace or empty the second container when it becomes filled with used crystals. Often, the operator will find it time consuming and inconvenient to perform these tasks—especially when the first container becomes empty (or the second container becomes full) while the microdermabrasion procedure is being performed on a patient. In addition, replacing, re-refilling and/or emptying the containers can be cumbersome (e.g., the container may be heavy and crystals may be spilled during the process).
In some devices, a pick-up tube with a small hole is provided within the first container. A vacuum air flow through the pick-up tube draws crystals into the hole to remove crystals from the first container. In this case, however, it can be difficult to adjust the rate at which crystals are drawn through the hole (e.g., to apply a weak or strong flow of crystals to the patient's skin).
Moreover, the crystals in the first container may become clogged (preventing the crystals from being drawn through the hole in the pick-up tube). In some devices, an operator can reverse the direction of a vacuum air flow to attempt to dislodge the clogged crystals. It can be difficult, however, to design a microdermabrasion device to reverse the vacuum air flow in an appropriate fashion (e.g., such that used crystals are not carried in the reversed vacuum air flow). In addition, the reversed vacuum air flow may not dislodge the crystals.